PETA Wants Manitoba Road Sign to Mark Cow Deaths

PETA wants this sign on the side of the road near where 71 cows were killed in a crash on January 31, 2012. (HANDOUT)

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has written a letter to the Manitoba government asking that a roadside sign be erected to mark the recent deaths of several dozen cows.

Seventy-one cows died January 31 when a cattle truck collided with a train on Highway 5 north of Carberry. Eleven heads of cattle survived the crash, while several others were destroyed due to injuries.

“It’s a big enough tragedy that these animals end up in slaughterhouses, where they are kicked, shocked with electric prods, and finally dragged off the trucks to their deaths,” said PETA campaigner Emily Lavender in the letter. “Saving them from being tossed from a speeding truck and deprived of care afterward—sometimes for several hours—seems like the least we can do.”

I am writing today on behalf of PETA to ask for your approval to place a memorial sign on the highway right-of-way as a tribute to the dozens of cows who were killed en route to slaughter last month. Because there are no surviving family members for animals in the meat trade, I hope you will allow a concerned Canadian to apply.

I propose that the sign read, “Careless Driving Costs Lives: In Memory of 71 Cows, January 31, 2012,” (see attached example) and be placed on Highway 5 north of Carberry to memorialize the cows who were killed or euthanized because of severe injuries after a truck carrying them collided with a train. The proposed sign would also remind tractor-trailer drivers of their responsibility to the thousands of animals they haul to their deaths every day. It’s a big enough tragedy that these animals end up in slaughterhouses, where they are kicked, shocked with electric prods, and finally dragged off the trucks to their deaths. Saving them from being tossed from a speeding truck and deprived of care afterward, sometimes for several hours, seems the least that we can do.